kmsxpoint6

If I wanted to suggest a combined edition of two works by different authors with different publishers but on the same subject while soliciting essays to respond and accompany it...er...How do combined editions, compendiums, or collections from different publishers get put together?

Sure I can be very specific, but a general answer is great too. In this case they are different, and I don't know of any relationship between the specific publishers. One is a relatively older prize-winning biography and the other is a relatively recently produced but well-received play about the bio's subject. So that is very niche, perhaps, but in general if there are different publishers, how does it work? Or is it for the most part only feasible with public domain works?

I imagine it is simpler when the authors have the same publisher already, and insight on that too would be interesting as well, such as how a short story collection gets put together with or without the same publisher?